The Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team were proud to announce the inception of their British cycling team back in December, 1999. The team was then developed in January 2000 to boost grass-roots cycling in the UK, and to provide a chance for younger riders to ride in a professional set-up.

The team will be run by Britain's most experienced manager, Keith Lambert. Keith, who was team manager Sean Yates's assistant last year, will have full responsibility in organising and coaching the young riders in the domestic team, while Sean will stay exclusively in Europe with Linda McCartney's "first team". "I was really looking to get them as young as possible," explained Lambert. "By the time these fellows are 24 or 25, you're already going to have a fair idea of how good they're going to get. I wanted rough diamonds that have got a way to go, but have the potential to go all the way."

Joining both Keith and Sean on the Linda McCartney management team will be one of the country's top professionals for many years, Chris Lillywhite.

"I'm so pleased that I've been given the opportunity to move into management at such a high level," said Chris. "They could easily have gone for a more experienced European manager, but it was important for them to retain as much British influence as possible. I'll be assisting Keith at home and Sean abroad, and I hope to be part of the team for many years to come," he added.

As part of the new strategy, the Linda McCartney team will be linking up with the Welsh Cycling Union. Keith Lambert worked with both Chris Lillywhite and WCU boss Shane Sutton in their glory days of the early 90's when they both won the Milk Race for Team Banana (Lambert was their manager). The strip will feature the WCU logo as well as the Linda McCartney device.

"I have been very impressed with the professional style of the Welsh set up," explained Keith. "Their testing facilities and the way they look after their riders is second to none, so I jumped at the chance to work with them."

What about the make-up of the team?

"We're were looking at initially six waged riders from all parts of the United Kingdom, focusing on those under 23. I also wanted to bring in some even younger riders to give them a taste of riding for a professional team. My aims for the team are to win Premier Calendar events in the short term, but my real target is for these boys to follow Max Sciandri and Matt Stephens into the Linda McCartney European squad, to keep it a British team that the country can be proud of."

The final team has eight riders, four were selected by the WCU and four by Linda McCartney, this should provide a real outlet for UK riders to eager to make it on the big stage.

The team's best known rider is the rapid Huw Pritchard, the Welsh champion who enjoyed an excellent season at Men's Health in 1999. Huw is older than the team's original 23-year-old rule, but was selected to give some focus to the younger riders and give the team some firepower for their main targets, the Premier Calendar races.